Parker Valby is as mentally tough of a runner who has ever laced up spikes or flats. I don’t think the surface she races on really matters. She doesn’t have much raw foot speed, she’s kind of like Monson when Monson was healthy. You may have a point with her being too injury prone to race on the roads all the time, but as long as she doesn’t train excessively on the roads and just does a road race here and there, she is not any more likely to get injured. She has a great marathon in her future.
If a person is injury prone, which surface is actually the best? Seems like roads would be a bigger joint impact issue, but grass/dirt is more uneven, and the track requires somewhat faster interval work. Not sure which one of these is better or worse.
Doesn't the uneven nature of grass / dirt reduce injury risk? It is a little less repetitive than a completely even surface.